Beardsley Zoo's Education Director Jackie Westlein, holds one of the zoo's chickens as Mayor Bill Finch talks about a proposed ordinance for keep chickens within city limits, during a press conference at Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday March 25, 2014.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Mayor Bill Finch pets a chicken as he talks about a proposed ordinance for keep chickens within city limits, during a press conference at Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday March 25, 2014. Standing with Finch is City Councilman Rich Paoletta and Beardsley Zoo's Education Director Jackie Westlein.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Mayor Bill Finch pets a chicken as he talks about a proposed ordinance for keep chickens within city limits, during a press conference at Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday March 25, 2014. At right is Director Environmental Health Warren Blunt.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Mayor Bill Finch holds a chick as he talks about a proposed ordinance for keep chickens within city limits, during a press conference at Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday March 25, 2014. Standing with Finch is Beardsley Zoo's Education Director Jackie Westlein.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Mayor Bill Finch talks about a proposed ordinance for keep chickens within city limits, during a press conference at Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday March 25, 2014.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Mayor Bill Finch pets a chicken as he talks about a proposed ordinance for keep chickens within city limits, during a press conference at Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday March 25, 2014. Standing with Finch is City Councilman Rich Paoletta and Beardsley Zoo's Education Director Jackie Westlein.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Mayor Bill Finch goes to hold a chicken as he talks about a proposed ordinance for keep chickens within city limits, during a press conference at Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday March 25, 2014. Standing with Finch is City Councilman Rich Paoletta and Beardsley Zoo's Education Director Jackie Westlein, Mayor Finch, and Director Environmental Health Warren Blunt.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Paoletto is a chairman of the Ordinance Committee, which debated -- then tabled -- the measure Tuesday evening.

A few members tossed some eggs of their own at Finch's proposal.

"I think we're asking for more trouble," said Councilwoman AmyMarie Vizzo-Paniccia, D-134, after Blunt admitted to the group that he has limited staff. "We have all these other ordinances we can't enforce."

Chicken raising is not new to urban Connecticut. New Haven, for example, passed a similar ordinance in 2009.

And it's no secret some Bridgeport residents -- particularly immigrants -- already have chickens on their property.

The problem is the city lacks clear standards for approving and inspecting private coops.

The issue came to a head last year, when Christopher Toole, an ex-New Yorker with a live-off-the-land philosophy Finch admired, was told by health officials he couldn't keep the dozen-plus chickens he had at his apartment.

Under the pending chicken ordinance, coops must be a minimum size for the health of the birds, 25 feet away from the host house and neighboring homes, and no closer than 5 feet from property lines.

If applicants are renting a property, they need written approval from the landlord and any other tenants.

Coops must be sanitized every six months and owners have to provide a plan for feces disposal.

Eggs can only be harvested for personal use, and the chickens cannot be slaughtered.

"We didn't want this as a loophole to start a business," Finch said. "This is meant for your family to have good, nourishing, wholesome protein."

Also, no roosters would be allowed.

Lindsay Carubia, a Beardsley zookeeper who brought a hen to Tuesday's news conference, said not only are fresh eggs delicious, but chickens are very social and make great pets.

"(Owners) start out saying `I'll get some eggs' and then fall in love with them," Carubia said.

During Tuesday's Ordinance Committee meeting, Council President Thomas McCarthy, D-133, worried about the potential for noise. But Blunt said that should not be a problem, since roosters are banned.

Councilman Richard DeJesus, D-136, suggested a certain number of chickens should be allowed per acre.

"(At) six per family, (if) you've got a three-family house, that turns into a lot of chickens," DeJesus said.

Councilwoman Lydia Martinez, D-137, wondered if the new rules might make it tougher for the poorer residents, who could most benefit from keeping chickens, to do so.

Paoletto is fully onboard and already researching chicken breeds and coops for his home.

As for Finch?

"My wife's not crazy about the idea," he said. "She's afraid she'll end up cleaning the coop."